Nerdy mom.

Salam,

Choosing the right gifts to give to people on their special day is a difficult task, for me at least. It becomes a  'chore' when the gifts are for kids. You would think otherwise, because they are kids after all. They play with their toys day in and day out. Just pick any fancy toys and they sure will love it. How difficult can it be, right? Haha. It's me who is being difficult actually. I don't believe in giving toys to kids. Toys are fine, but must be educational ones. Not some action figures, or cars, or armor and sword, and whatnot. If the toy car involves dismantling and assembling work, then that's fine. It makes the kids think. I'm talking about the kind of toy car where kids just go 'vroom vroom' and move the car from point A to point B and that's it. Pointless, that's my point.

See, I stop reading comics and watching cartoons at a very early age (you must be thinking what a boring childhood this poor girl had). Maybe that's why I'm not creative. I find it hard to imagine things. No offense, but I think Shin Chan is rude, and his scale compared to his parents just don't make sense. He is shorter than his parents' knees. Haha, ketinggian pun aku nak pick out. Truth is, I can't stand stupid jokes. 

So yeah, I believe that kids tidak sepatutnya disogokkan dengan a lot of toys, cartoons and comics. That's why I find it hard to look for gifts for kids. The gifts must meet certain criteria - must be educational, won't impart negative effects, can be use for a long time, bla bla bla bla. I told my friends once in high school, that I won't allow my kids to watch cartoons and comics. I'll just buy them books and they have live with that. Hahaha. Habislah anak-anak aku semua nerd. Hopefully the father will balance it all out :P 

I went to look for gifts today, for my cousins - a 3 year-old Arif Arman and a 12-year old Ameera Liyana. We are having a birthday party for them tomorrow. First I went to MPH; I thought of getting Ameera some exercise books to prepare her for UPSR.  For Ayip, I thought of getting him a storybook set. The hardcover ones, lepas tu ade 3-4 dalam satu kotak. I used to have that when I was small, so I thought it would be a perfect gift for him. I bought the exercise books, but couldn't find the storybook set. 

Then I went to Parkson. Looking at the storybook section, sigh, so kasihan. Not only there are so little books, but also they are all dusty! I wonder how long they have been there. Sampai berhabuk takda orang beli.

Then I came across the school supplies section and found these handphone case/cover thingy. Really? Yeah I know kids nowadays tadika pun parents dah kasi pakai handphone, but don't encourage it by selling handphone covers at the kids section. Isk isk isk.

Here's another thing. Why must you include pictures of Power Rangers la, Ultraman la, Dragon Ball la in ABC 123 books? Why? Whyyyyyyy? OK, maybe you think it's to gain their attention. When kids see the Power Rangers, they would become attracted to the book and masa tu lah parents start to teach them sikit-sikit ABC 123. Kalau plain je, boring ye dak? Sigh. Parents kena ambil kelas belajar cara untuk ambil perhatian anak-anak ni. Sampai kena guna Power Rangers to allure their kids to learn.

Tak rasa ke kemunculan Power Rangers tu macam out of nowhere? 

Kalau si anak tanya kenapa ada Power Rangers kat situ, mak nak jawab apa?

Luckily, I found a decent section of puzzles. Lega hati mak, nyah.  Ada juga benda ilmiah kat sini. I spent a good 10 minutes staring at the puzzles, and contemplating which one to buy. Of course I have to opt for 2+ years puzzles, even though I'm itching to get those for 5+ and 6+ years.

Then it came to these two, ABC or 123? I thought of buying both, but macam mahal sangat la pulak (being cheapies). I thought, 'takpelah, nanti parents die boleh beli juga'. So I ended up with the alphabets, it came down to the number of puzzle pieces - alphabets ade 52 pieces, numbers ade 40 pieces :P

The search didn't end there. I was concern about being labeled a boring cousin, yang just tahu suruh orang belajar belajar and belajar, so I went to Lovely Lace to get Ameera another gift. During my high school, tak ingat for which birthday, my adik angkat gave me a jewelry cum music box from LL. I still have it until today. So I went to LL to look for it, nasib diorang ada jual lagi. I bought one for Ameera. Hope she likes it :)

Sebelum keluar, my eyes were fixed to these two teddies. Sangat adorable! A couple teddy. Siap ada junior teddy lagi. Awwwwhhh~ Don't worry I didn't waste my RM67 for it. But so comel I cannot tahan!  Maybe I'll drop by LL before the sale ends to get them both. Gotta grab that 10% yo! Hahaha

Moral of the story is, my dear friends, don't expect me to give some extravagant toys to your kids later k. I'm gonna stick to books, and puzzles and the like. Tee hee hee. But please, come to my kids' birthday parties with toys, so that my kids won't grow being boring and nerdy. Kesian dapat mak macam ni :P